


i want to climb over the counter to be with you

by tsuluio



Series: everybody talks - crackship au [2]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/M, Fluff, High School AU, Light Angst, Other, Unrequited Love, cafe au i guess, crackship but also crack fic, friendzones, lowkey smut but not really, part time jobs, weird fantasy-like dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 09:23:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20486564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuluio/pseuds/tsuluio
Summary: The barista behind the counter is really really hot. She doesn't know what to do about that.





	i want to climb over the counter to be with you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HnngWorthy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HnngWorthy/gifts).

> i lost steam in the middle so yeah.
> 
> also the smut isnt really smut its like. weird shit but i tagged it just in case oops. its also rlly bad bc i dont and cant write smut dshdsh
> 
> and this is lowkey spoilers for ride or die so i mean.. its not that big of a spoiler but yk u can never b too careful right

The cafe bell jingles as Full Moon walks inside; she nearly bumps into the door handle with her arm since she's so absorbed in her phone. Des had put up a new poll, which, in addition to generating the norm of responses, also elicited a heavy stream of comments. She doesn't mind the comments on her friend's post unless they get _too_ nasty and she's currently unleashing all of hell onto the poor soul who decided that Des' inner weeb is showing too much. Because, after all, there's no harm in that or anything, and she believes that everyone deserves to have something they truly like. In her friend group's case, it's video games and anime.

Speaking of anime, the manga she's reading is a good one. It's about two Inklings who strangely claim they hate each other, but she knows that they're inexplicably drawn to each other and it's only a matter of time when they confess. She loves romance; it makes her feel alive as she lives through the characters, feeling what they feel, experiencing what they experience, and it gives her motivation to keep going. Maybe one day she'll have a special someone, like so many of her friends already do. It's just the matter of where to look, she reminds herself as she slowly inches with the line in front of the cashier, eyes glued to her phone. 

"Excuse me?" Full Moon jumps; she's been so engrossed in her screen that she didn't even notice she was at the front of the line. The cashier is waiting for her, smile tugging at the corners of his voice, but she takes it as more mocking in a way. She flushes and looks up.

And stops.

She must be dreaming. She_ has_ to be dreaming. The guy in front of her can't be real. Yes, the brown apron has some weird coffee -- she hopes it's coffee -- stains on the front pocket, and yes, this is a freaking _cafe_ of all places, but she can't help but stare. She's met a multitude of guys in her lifetime, Mask, Des, but none of them could really compare to-- to this guy. This guy is _hot_. And not like Aloha, who flirts with seemingly everyone but her, not like that person running the comic shop, who's more cute in a way, not any of that. He's practically drop-dead _gorgeous_ and she would literally swoon on the spot if her face didn't heat up and her body didn't suddenly tense at the sight of him.

Nevertheless, she manages to stammer, "Y-yes?"

He grins easily at her and she notes the sunglasses blocking her from making eye contact with him. Sunglasses automatically make people mysterious in anime movies and she has the sudden urge to climb over the counter and take those shades off so she can see if his eyes are as beautiful as the rest of him, but since she's a respectable Inkling, she doesn't. "You gonna order, Miss--?"

It takes her a moment to realize he's asking for her name. "O-oh. Moon. Full Moon. My name."

And there goes her ability to talk in coherent sentences. Strangely, he doesn't seem to mind. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aviator. But you probably already knew that." He laughs -- her heart flutters in response -- and gestures to his name tag. She has to squint, even with her glasses on, to see the letters blocked neatly on laminated paper. "Anyway, introductions aside, you know what you want?"

Words fail her. She knows what she came in here for in the first place, but now she wants him to keep talking to her. She wants to hear his voice. She wants to relish in his eyes. She wants _him_. 

"No," she lies. "Do you have anything to recommend?"

His eyebrows raise and his lips curl into a surprised smile, causing her heartrate to speed up. "Do I?" 

He spends at least five minutes going through each item on the menu, and she's never seen anyone so enthusiastic -- if that was the right word -- about their job before. He knows the ingredients of every drink, the process to make every food, down to the small details like the spices and the type of milk they use in the coffee. Full Moon is glad there's no line behind her and she simply nods along. Those sunglasses are distracting, catching in the fluorescent lights as he talks, the emerald green jacket he's wearing underneath the apron catching her gaze. He has rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, the front unzipped slightly, exposing the light brown shirt he has underneath. His tentacles are a deep purple, the natural spots on the bulbs slightly lighter than one would expect. She forces herself to meet his gaze as he finishes, and laughs slightly.

"Fufufu~ you've listed so much, it's so much harder!"

He shrugs and grins. "Well, I like them all. It's hard to choose for newcomers, so that's why I'm barely put on cashier duty since I confuse them more, but staff's running low so.." he trails off and then shakes his head, breaking whatever funk he put himself into. "So whatcha want?"

_You_, Full Moon wants to say, but that's overbearing and creepy, so she just frowns and stays silent, eyes searching the menu for something she doesn't need.

He doesn't seem to like her silence, and his friendly grin slips slightly. "How about this," he says finally. "I'm about to go on break after I fill my own order, so do you want to try whatever I'm having?"

She hesitates, brain calculating the probability of love blossoming between them. It's unlikely, since they just met, and he's probably only doing this to be nice, but hope forms within her anyway.

"That'd be great, fufufu~"

He smirks, personality back on track, and disappears into the kitchen.

\--

They're both sitting in the far corner of the cafe, sipping cappuccinos. Aviator says he needs the caffeine to keep going through the day, and Full Moon doesn't see any bad side to this. Caffeine is her lifeline sometimes, and since high school requires more than thirteen hours of working brain power, she can't function on less sleep like her classmates, resorting to coffee in the morning and late afternoons. The purple Inkling had managed to steam the milk perfectly on the first try, creating latte art of something Full Moon has definitely seen before.

"Never took you for a part of the Triforce," she jokes, and he just raises an eyebrow, showing his teeth in a wide smile.

"Your phone case gave you away." 

Full Moon flips her phone over; the Triforce stands out in golden puffy paint against a cyan backdrop, something Jersey had made for her birthday. Her cheeks flush slightly. He noticed? "Never took you for an observant type with those sunglasses, fufufu~"

He taps the frames of his glasses with a smirk. "You'd be surprised, then. I'm only observant when it comes to people who actually talk to me instead of ordering with a blank stare."

"How many people talk to you?"

"Today? You, so far. My ex comes around every now and then so we make conversation, but he hasn't shown yet."

So he has an ex. Full Moon marks that down in her mind with some levels of disappointment, but also annoyance at herself. Of _course_ he would have an ex. A guy this hot wouldn't be left alone for this long anyway. He seems about her age after all, and if he goes to her school, she wouldn't be surprised if he had at least three of them. The school is crawling with desperate romantics, not including her.

"Are you from Inkopolis High?" she asks, and he downs the rest of his cappuccino in one swallow before answering.

"Yeah. You?"

"Same."

"Strange how I haven't seen you around before, then." He leans forward slightly, and Full Moon's hearts start to race. "I know most of the people in my grade. You _are_ a senior, right?"

"Yes. No one usually remembers or sees me anyway, so don't worry about it." She smiles, but Aviator frowns.

"Well, that's kinda dumb. You have the Triforce on your phone case for cod's sake. Who wouldn't notice you?"

Oh cod oh cod oh cod. She can feel her tentacles start to blush a bright cyan, on the verge of lighting up. She can't let him see it, can't let him know how much the compliment means to her when it's coming from _him_. She stands quickly, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, mumbling a quick apology before rushing out the door, her tentacles alighting as she passes over the threshold. The door slams shut behind her so violently, the bell jingles as she hurries down the block. Clutching her bag and phone to her chest, she turns the corner and drops down onto the curb, breathing hard. Inhale. Exhale.

Cod, she's not going to be able to do this. He's too good-looking, and she's falling for him harder than that time she witnessed Gloves smash his face into the pavement from a failed skateboard attempt.

Full Moon sits there for at least half an hour before deciding to stand, legs shaky. She heads home.

\--

Aviator appears to her in her dreams, just the way she remembers him. Except this time, he lets her take off his sunglasses, so she can see his eyes, lets her kiss him on the lips, the tentacles, anywhere she can. She doesn't know what his eyes look like, nor does she know what he _feels_ like, but when she wakes up, she can still hear his voice, said to her in a fantasy that's gone with the rising sun: _I love you_.

\--

Full Moon is held back in class because of a test going overtime and by the time she gets down to the cafe, it's closed. She's about to turn around and go home when she sees Aviator inside, wiping down a table. A wave of courage overwhelms her and she knocks on the glass door; the other Inkling stiffening in surprise, but when he looks up and sees who it is, he hurries over to unlock it.

"Hey, you ran off yesterday," he says with a light grin and she smiles in return, blush already creeping up the side of her face. 

"Sorry," she says, and he waves the apology off with a glove-covered hand.

"It's whatever. Come on in, I'm just finishing up wiping down these tables."

She follows him from table to table, observing as he sweeps all the dirty dishes off of the tablecloth and takes the whole thing off, spraying and then wiping the shiny wood. He tosses the stained tablecloths into the bin he's lugging around before pressing out a new one. Full Moon watches all this in fascination. She's been going to this cafe for quite some time now, and Aviator's movements are fluid with memory, which means he's been working here for quite some time. So why hasn't she seen him before?

"How long have you worked here?" 

Aviator slides the bin underneath a slip in the kitchen door and the rattle inside tells Full Moon that whoever's in there is washing the dishes. "About a few years or so. Started late sophomore year and kept going from there. They usually keep me to cleaning up or cooking, so if you've a regular, that's probably why we haven't met."

He read her mind. It's almost like they're meant to be, even if the logical part of Full Moon's brain is telling her that it's only been two days, the romantic impulsive side of her wants to fully believe she can make this work.

The purple Inkling crosses the room to the windows, tugging the blinds down in a single swift movement. "You want anything?"

"Isn't it after closing?" Full Moon glances at the hours scratched onto the blackboard on the door to make sure, but she's been here enough to memorize the times. Otherwise, she would accept the offer as quickly as she could. 

"Yeah, but who cares about that?" Aviator gestures to behind the counter. “Food is food, and I’m in charge right now so you can have whatever you want.”

“You’re actually in charge?”

“Well, no.” He grins at her confused look. “The boss isn’t here because they left early but I guess I’m the next best thing since everyone one else is supposed to be on dish duty.”

She smiles at that, eyes dancing over his body, his grin, his chest, his arms, and then lower. Her face heats up as she changes her mind. “Actually I have to head home.”

He has the grace of the oblivious to her perverted thoughts. “Oh, no biggie then. See you tomorrow?”

She’s left breathless as she nods, already heading for the door. “Yeah. Tomorrow.”

—

She goes to the cafe in her dreams this time, and even if it’s after dark, she somehow knows she needs to be here. Aviator is waiting for her at the center table, the other furniture swept off to the side and she takes the initiative. 

She doesn’t know why but she walks to him slowly, hearts racing, cheeks flushed a bright cyan. He merely smiles at her, teeth nearly reflecting the glow of her tentacles, and her hearts, if possible, beat faster as he holds out a hand. 

She doesn’t hesitate and takes it, yanking him out of his chair and onto the ground. He makes no noise as he falls and she follows his path to the tiled floor, straddling him at the waist, leaning forward and kissing him, hard. He kisses back, unsurprisingly, and she melts into his touch, her hands tearing at the golden zipper beneath her touch, the sound of the jacket opening barely heard over their heavy breathing as she kisses him again. His own fingers slide under the hem of her sweater, tips grazing her belly, her chest, moving around to her back to work at her bra. 

_This isn’t happening this can’t be happening this shouldn’t be—_

It takes her a moment, mid-kiss, her sweater and bra in the middle of being raised over her head, a moan at the edge of her lips: _I _want_ this to happen. _

The sunglasses are off now — she wrenches them from his face almost hungrily, staring into his eyes. Her dream doesn’t allow her to see them clearly since it’s a dream after all, but it’s good enough anyway. 

Her subconscious mind evidently is impatient because suddenly they’re both at the climax of an orgasm, pain and delicious satisfaction burning through her body, and she screams —

And comes back to present in her bed, sheets slightly damp from sweat and other things she doesn’t want to think about. Jersey is standing over her, eyes wide. 

“Moon! Are you okay? Why are you screaming? Did you have a bad dream?”

Full Moon takes a minute to recollect herself, panting from something she never actually experienced. “N-no. It’s fine, Jersey.”

There’s a suspicious look and then, “You were dreaming about hentai or something. You’re all sweaty.”

“No!” Full Moon chucks a pillow at her housemate and the other dodges, giggling. “Go away!”

“It’s about that barista at the cafe, isn’t it?” is the distant cry of triumph before Full Moon slams the door shut behind her. 

Cod, she really needs to get her shit together. 

—

She avoids Aviator for three days, not like it’s that hard since he’s not behind the counter the next few days. She doesn’t know if she can face him after that dream. 

At school, she already knows she doesn’t have any classes with him, and therefore can rest easy, but he somehow finds her in the library at lunch. 

“Missed you for the past week,” he says, and she looks up from the manga she’s reading almost in horror. He looks somewhat different without the apron, the green and white jacket reflecting the dim lights overhead. The opening above the zipper goes down farther than Full Moon noticed before, and she quickly glances away before she can remember her perverted fantasies. 

“Yeah, you weren’t at the counter.”

Aviator shrugs, sliding his bag off his shoulder and dropping it to the ground. She doesn’t have to make eye contact with him to know he’s taking the seat right across from her. 

“How’s school?” He gestures to the manga with a sharp grin. “Doesn’t look like a textbook to me.”

Now, she has a reason to blush. It’s not because of her book; it’s because of him. She’s not one to turn down a way to cover her horrid crush anyway. 

“It’s history,” she offers, flipping the book doc the cover faces him. “Something like that, anyway.”

“'_Fate Stay Night'_?" he reads, mouth twisting slightly into a half-smile. "Sounds like some manga to me."

She giggles, flushing harder. "Got me there." The book shuts, almost on its own accord, and she makes eye contact with him, or something close to it anyway. "Why are you here?"

"Figured you hung out here," Aviator replies, an eyebrow lifting past the frames of his glasses. "Also I found Mask in the cafeteria and he told me to look here."  
"Just like that? That's unlike him."

"Probably because Skull was literally standing behind me, ready to murder at moment's notice." He grins, and Full Moon blinks in surprise. Skull? She's heard of the other Inkling before, the one who always got lost in the hallways, yet was so unnaturally skilled in almost everything he did.

"Skull's your friend?" The question slips out before she can take it back and now it's his turn to look surprised. 

"Yeah. We've been best friends since preschool. You didn't know?"

"I only pay attention where it's important."

He leans away from her in mock offense. "So you're saying I'm not important?"

Full Moon backtracks so quickly, it's a wonder the words manage to escape her mouth: "No, no, no, I'm not saying that at all--"

Aviator laughs, as much as a laugh you can get in the library, and she's briefly stunned into silence. "I'm only joking, Moon, it's fine."

He said her name. _He said her name_. Sure, it shouldn't have been such a big deal, but to her, it means the world. 

It only then occurs to her that she's in _deep_.

\--

_This isn't healthy_, she tells herself for the hundredth time, staring at herself in the mirror. _You can't crush like this again._

The first time had been some unfortunate boy she met at the bus stop every morning until he moved. The second was this anime girl character that Full Moon almost felt ashamed for liking. The third is Aviator. And she's not sure if she can get over him.

_You're gonna have to eventually. He probably only thinks of you as a friend._

"I know," she says aloud, and her reflection rolls its eyes at her as she leaves the bathroom, door clicking shut.

\--

Courage isn't something she has much of, and she isn't about to start having it now. But her imagination starts wandering every single second of the day, and she knows she's going to have to either end this or ignite it further eventually.

It's now or never.

The barista is a girl with pigtails, the brown apron somewhat clashing with her striped shirt, extending longer than her shorts, and Full Moon has to actually meet this girl in the eyes to avoid staring. This girl's eyes are somewhat insane, though, and Full Moon looks away.

"Oi, Miss, whatcha want?" The barista's voice sounds like she's about to start laughing at any second, and it does nothing to help calm the nerves rattling inside Full Moon's poor, perverted, anxiety-filled brain.

"Is Aviator on his shift right now?"

The girl gives her a bored look, rolls her eyes, but turns to obligingly check the clock. "Nah, he's on break. Probably helpin' in the kitchen though, like the tryhard he is."

"Can I t-talk to him for a minute?"

The girl scrutinizes her, leaning close enough for Full Moon to read her nametag: Red. "Hang on."

She strides over to the kitchen doors, pushes one open a sliver, and hollers, "Hey! Avi! Get your ass out here! Customer wants to see you!"

Full Moon cringes from the loud volume, but is relieved to see Aviator come out from the double door, a half frown on his face as he turns to Red. "I'm literally right here. You don't need to disturb the entire cafe."

Red cackles. "Your girlfriend wanted to see you. Is that what you two are? Lovebirds?"

Full Moon can feel her face turning a bright cyan as she looks down at her feet. She can't bring herself to correct the other girl, and Aviator apparently doesn't see the need to say anything to Red either, simply sighing and moving around the counter to get to Full Moon.

"You need something, Moon?" His voice is surprisingly gentle after his interaction with Red, and it just makes her stomach twist in either guilt or suspense, she doesn't know which.

"Not here," she manages, and grabs his wrist, dragging him from the cafe as Red hoots after them. It's only after she lets go of him halfway down the block does she realize this is the first time they've ever had physical contact. _Actual_ physical contact.

They stand in awkward silence, and Aviator opens his mouth to say something, probably ask if she's okay, but Full Moon beats him to talking. "I like you."

There. The words are out there.

A pause. 

"What?"

Cod, this is harder than she thought. It's like the words are pressed up against her throat, preventing her from saying them, but she wants -- _needs _\-- to let them out or else she'll be stuck drowning in love she doesn't know is requited or not.

"I like you, Avi. Like like you. And it's been going on ever since we met and I don't know why, but there it is. Here I am. Here you are." She looks up to meet his gaze, and is startled that she can see his eyes staring at her through the brown lenses, the sunlight evidently angled so she can see them clearly. They're more beautiful than she thought, but her hearts are pounding too loudly for her to think past that. She only can concentrate on the overwhelming amount of sympathy in those eyes, the slight frown in those lips, and she knows what he's going to say before he even says it.

"I--" He stops there, and she can practically see him searching for a way to say something, anything. She's never seen him speechless before, even though they've only talked for maybe a week at most. Aviator had always seemed like the guy who knew what to say at all the right times, his brain functioning with social cues so smoothly, it was almost like he was born knowing how to hold a conversation, how to say the right things. But now? His eyes flick away from her before darting back, looking so sorry for her that she wants to cry. "Moon."

She prepares herself, even though a slight sliver of hope resides in her chest, trying to find a way that he _could _love her back. "Y-yeah?" Her voice is so quiet, she can barely hear it herself.

"I'm-- I'm sorry. I--" Okay if he starts crying for her, she really wouldn't be able to hold back her tears. Thankfully, his eyes seem to be dry, even if his voice sounds like it's fraying at the edges. "I don't-- I don't feel the same way. I always thought... we were friends, y'know? You're an amazing girl, don't get me wrong, and I love talking to you, but I think--"

_Don't say it. _Please_ don't say it_.

"I think we're better off being friends. For now, at least. I'm really sorry." 

She hates this. _Hates_ it. She now understands why Mask is so cynical when it comes to emotions. The way she feels right now? She hates it. But she can't hate Aviator, even if her hearts are trying to find a reason to pin this all on him. She got stuck with the unreasonable crush, now she needs to pay the consequences. None of this was his fault.

She can't let him think it's his fault. By the looks of it, he's going to blame himself, which, _dammit_, is something she thinks is way too befitting of him, and also way too attractive of him, which is as stupid as it sounds. 

So Full Moon swallows her tears, and offers him a shaky smile. "I understand. Thank you." And she turns around, eyes set straight ahead, and walks right back down the block. She can feel his gaze on her back as she turns the corner, see his eyes in every passerby, hear his voice through the rumble of the busy streets. But she can't turn back.

She _won't_ turn back.

\--

Their friendship is shaky at worst, close at best, and she actually _likes_ being friends with Aviator. She still has that lingering attraction to him, something she can't shake, but it's not so bad anymore, not as painful as it was the night he friend-zoned her.

His ex was Scuba. The nudge of irritation she feels when she finds out is hard to ignore, but Scuba's with another girl, the one who's Rider's friend. What was her name? Blazer? She doesn't remember.

Her times are spent playing video games, going to school, and doing homework at the cafe while Aviator tries his best to converse with her, keep Red off their backs, and serve the customers all at the same time. (The cafe has changed a lot in the next few months, now involving a complete serving system directly to the guests, and while Full Moon isn't one for social interaction, she doesn't mind the waiters, especially if it's Aviator).

It's at graduation that she spots him, sunglasses slid to the top of his head, letting her see his eyes for the first and last time in the entire year she's known him. His fingers are interlaced with someone she can't really make out since everyone looks the same in graduation gowns, but he sees her and raises his free hand in a greeting. Full Moon smiles and waves back, hearts lifting higher than the midday sun.

She hears him over the phone in the next decade, reads his words written across her phone screen. They live on opposite ends of the city now, too busy with their lives to meet up, but her doorbell rings one day, when she's in the middle of her fifteenth speedrun of Rollertale, Jersey cooking dinner in the kitchen.

Aviator is standing there in her doorway, smile on his lips, hands jammed into his pockets, looking as smooth and as casual as she remembers. His tentacles are slightly longer, but other than that, it feels like nothing has changed.

"Aviator?" She can't help saying his name, mind recalling how it tastes, how it feels on her tongue. He grins at her, taking his hands out of his pockets, and she sees the wedding band on his finger. She strangely feels nothing but happiness for him. No resentment, no lurking feelings, none.

"Hey, Full Moon. Long time, no see."

**Author's Note:**

> i cant believe out of all the one sided tag ships, this is the only one that stays onesided like damn
> 
> and i never said who he's with but *shrugs* yall can speculate but im not saying a thing dsdsjds the true mystery is if i can uphold this in my main fic oops


End file.
